Blank Sheet
by Chopper Joe
Summary: When Marcus McCloud struggles with his artwork, his father comes to the rescue with some helpful encouragement. (Note: This little short is really just meant to represent how I've been feeling with my writing recently. I know, really cheesy. But hey, I think it helped a lot!)


**This short is, for the most part, a reflection on how I've felt about my writing these past couple months. The plot's something I just pulled out of thin air. Nothing special.**

 **As always, this takes place in the "Star Fox: Sons of Legends" universe. In this context, Leon is the lupine son of Wolf, not the lizard squad member of Star Wolf from the video games. Read the main story line for more information.**

 **If you liked or disliked this short for any particular reasons, please leave a review or PM me.**

 **Also, to anyone who cares, I have officially started planning a "Star Fox: Sons of Legends" sequel. However, I'm having some difficulty with the premise and introduction. PM me for more details if you're interested. I'd be happy to discuss it, especially since I'm kind of stuck right now.**

 **Good day to you all, and God bless!**

* * *

Blank Sheet

A blank sheet. That was all he had.

Marcus stared down at his paper with a look of emptiness in his eyes. He had everything that he needed to draw with right there on his writing desk: a pack of colored pencils, some regular lead pencils, an eraser, and even a ruler for measuring line length and curves. It had been weeks since he used any of the supplies. Instead, he would just come up to his room and sit down at his desk, never bothering to pick up his writing utensils. And there was no lack of ideas and imagination. Marcus had dozens of images in his head eagerly waiting to be displayed on paper.

So why couldn't Marcus draw them out?

When he first started three years ago (he was seven at the time), Marcus couldn't _stop_ drawing. He spent hours and hours drawing picture after picture, never stopping except to eat, sleep, and spend some time with his family. He drew his house, his family, buildings in his small city, Arwings, the forest, and many, many more pictures. Even today, his bedroom walls are covered with his artwork, and it doesn't even account for half his material. He was a drawing machine when he started, and he was happy and joyful.

But now…

With a sigh, Marcus rested his elbow on the desk, leaning his cheek on his left hand. He looked away from the blank sheet and scanned the walls of his room, examining all his past artwork. Why couldn't he do that now? What was he missing? Where was his drive and motivation? Did he just not care anymore?

These thoughts continued to trouble Marcus as he rested his head on the desk, cushioning it with his arms. He starred at the blue fur on his left arm, letting his mind wander.

A knock at the door caught Marcus's attention. Usually he would stand up and open the door himself, face bright with a smile as his tail wagged happily. However, this time, Marcus simply mumbled, "Come in,"

His door opened, and Marcus saw his father enter. The orange furred vulpine closed the door behind him. Marcus turned his head away from Fox.

"Hey kiddo," Fox said warmly as he walked over to Marcus, "You feeling alright?"

Marcus lightly nodded, not bothering to lift his head up off the desk. He felt his father's hand brush over and rub his furry scalp. The blue-furred kit smiled weakly at that. Even if it wasn't much, his Father's presence always made him feel better. He turned his head on the desk look up at Fox, who wasn't smiling back. Instead, there was nothing but pity and concern written all over his face.

It was Leon who first pointed the problem out. Now that they were brothers, Marcus and Leon spent almost every waking moment of their lives together. While he wasn't a psychiatrist, it didn't take much for the black-furred lupine to realize there was something very wrong with his younger brother. He told his parents the vulpine wasn't nearly as charismatic and joyful as he used to be. Instead, Marcus seemed down all the time without a single sign of high-energy and happiness. His mother Krystal noticed as well, and thanks to her empathetic powers, she _knew_ something was going on with her son. Fox began to notice it as well when his son stopped running over to him for a giant hug after Fox came back home from work.

"What's the matter big guy?" Fox asked, leaning down to get at eye-level with his son, "You've seemed really down recently."

"No, I'm okay," Marcus mumbled without looking into his father's eyes, "It's nothing."

Fox placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"It's always something," Fox stated, "you can tell me. I'm your Father."

The last thing Marcus wanted to do was worry his family. Seeing the deep concern on his Father's face, Marcus sighed heavily through his nose again as he lifted his head up from the table, scooting his blank sheet over to Fox. Fox picked the paper up and examined it.

"Um," Fox said with a confused facial expression and tone as he scratched the back of his head, "This is a sheet of paper Marcus."

"Yeah, a blank sheet," Marcus said. His ears lowered as he looked at his Father, "Dad, I can't draw anything. It's been two whole weeks, and my mind has been blanking out this whole time. Well, no, that's not really true," Marcus said as he thought harder on it, looking back at the desk, "I've had _plenty_ of ideas, it's just…"

"You can't draw them out on paper," Fox finished for him.

Marcus looked back at Fox, nodding. His father smiled sympathetically as he chuckled. The next thing Marcus was expecting out of his Father was a long lecture about "the importance of being patient" or some story about how Fox went through the same thing when he lost his passion for flying during his career for a short period of time. Marcus wouldn't have minded of course, but he didn't think it would help much.

However, instead of doing either of those things, Fox walked over to Marcus's bed and sat down. He patted the space next to him, indicating for Marcus to come sit with him.

 _"Yep, here comes the long talk,"_ Marcus thought to himself as he stood up from his desk and walked over.

Marcus took a seat, and Fox wrapped an elbow around his shoulder, pulling him in close. He beamed at his son before pointing to one of the many pictures on the wall.

"Can you tell me about that one?" Fox asked.

Marcus looked closer and saw that it was the forest clearing that he and Leon practiced dueling in all the time. Marcus brightened up immediately and began describing the entire picture.

"That's the arena me and Leon fight in," he started with a beaming smile as his tail began wagging, "If you look closely, you can see us both on either side. Leon's the tall black and red lupine and I'm the shorter blue and white vulpine. The grey dots surrounding us represent the stones that mark the boundary lines, and you can see the trees in the back."

Fox nodded and then pointed to another picture, asking, "And that one?"

"Oh! That's the Arwing I saw at the museum!" Marcus said, now feeling a little giddy as he bounced in his seat, "That's my best one too since I was able to see it as I drew it out!"

Fox chuckled at his son's excitement and pointed out another picture. They spent the next hour going over every single picture hung up on Marcus's walls. There wasn't one that Marcus was embarrassed to describe. The blue-furred kit had total enthusiasm explaining every little detail. His thoughts and feelings of dryness and emptiness were already starting to disappear.

The vulpine was back to his old self in no time.

"It feels really good, doesn't it?" Fox asked as he grinned at his son.

Marcus looked up at his Father with confusion.

"What feels good?" he asked.

"This!" Fox said, waving a hand across the whole room, "Our achievements. It feels good to talk about them, right?"

Marcus looked around the room and smiled, nodding.

"So don't let _this_ get you down Marcus," Fox said, lifting up the sheet of paper, "One blank sheet doesn't compare to all of these masterpieces you've already created. Just because you can't draw now doesn't mean you can't draw at all."

"I know that Dad, but the problem is that I can't get past it," Marcus replied, "It's just been there for so long, and I don't know what to do."

"Well, maybe that's the problem," Fox said, setting the sheet down on the bed next to him, "You're trying too hard Marcus. You come up here to draw every day likes it's a required routine. You can't treat it that way. For you, drawing is still a hobby. Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing you can do."

"But…" Marcus said with a somewhat worried face as he looked down at the carpet, "I don't want to lose it entirely. What if I never want to draw again?"

"You won't lose your passion entirely big guy," Fox said with a reassuring smile and wink, "Going through a phase of dryness is very natural, but it'll come back to you. You just need to give it some time."

"I know, I know, patience is a virtue," Marcus said like he had already heard it a thousand times, "Knew you were gonna get to that."

Fox laughed.

"So you saw the lecture coming huh?"

"Yeah, I did," Marcus sighed. He curled up his legs and wrapped his arms around his knees. Fox stood up from the bed and walked back over to the desk, placing the blank sheet on it.

"Where gonna forget about all of this for now, okay?" Fox asked, smiling at his son. He could only see the top layer of his face from above his nose. The rest of his head was concealed behind his knees. Marcus nodded abruptly. Fox stretched his back and placed his hands on his hips.

"You know, they have a special family deal today down at the Green Root Café," Fox said. His son's ears perked up at the name of his favorite restaurant, "Why don't we all go out there for dinner tonight? I can call Aunt Katt and Uncle Falco and see if they want to come as well."

"Really!?" Marcus asked beaming as he quickly stood up from the bed.

"Sure, if you and your brother promise to behave this time," Fox crossed his arms, "Which means no grotesque eating competitions."

"Promise!" Marcus said as he ran over and hugged his Father. Still relatively short, the blue kit only made it up to Fox's chest, "Thank you Daddy!"

"Don't thank me, thank the deal," Fox laughed as he hugged Marcus back. He then nudged him back slightly and grabbed his hand, "Let's make sure Leon and your mother aren't doing anything important tonight first."

Marcus grinned his trademark smile, showing all his teeth with his eyes tightly closed.

 _"There you go Marcus,"_ Fox thought to himself as the two walked out of the room, _"All I wanted to see was that smile of yours."_

Fox tightened his grip around his son's hand.

 _"You don't know it yet Marcus, but you've got an incredible special ability of having a contagious mood. If you're not smiling, than none of us can smile."_

Fox looked down at Marcus. The vulpine looked up at him and struck his trademark smile again, this time giggling.

 _"That's right kid,"_ Fox winked at Marcus, _"Just keep smiling. Smile for all of us."_


End file.
